The present invention relates in general to a combination boat and trailer assembly wherein the boat has built-in or integrated retractable trailer wheel structure and an automotive vehicle hitch so that the combined trailer-boat is movable on water and also may be towed on land by an automotive vehicle.
Heretofore, removable trailer wheel attachments have been proposed for boats, usually of the smaller runabout or outboard watercraft types, wherein the trailer wheels and an automotive hitch can be removably secured by screws or similar fasteners to the sides of the boat so that it can be towed by an automotive vehicle to the launch site. Examples of such prior art structures are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,281,874 and 2,410,570. However, in such cases, the wheels and attachment gear were immersed in water when the boat was in the water, which of course produced undesirable turbulence or drag characteristics adversely effecting handling and maneuverability of the boat in the water, and which also subjected the wheels and support structure to rust and undue wear arising from their immersion in the water when the boat was waterborne. However, the desirability of having trailer wheel and wheel support structure and hitch structure incorporated in some way with the boat structure was recognized as desirable to reduce the much greater expense of providing a separate trailer for the boat, increasing the total weight of the trailer and boat and thus causing considerably increased gas consumption as well as the expense involved in having a separate trailer and the greater difficulty of handling a separate trailer during the process of launching the boat or withdrawing it from the water.
Also, it has been proposed in the case of larger boats such as cabin cruisers and large inboard boats to provide wells or storage spaces in the boat hull in which wheels and wheel support structure could be accommodated when the boat was in the water, providing a combined boat and trailer assembly, but in such cases the storage provisions for the wheel and support structure took up needed passenger and cargo space and resulted in bulky, cumbersome and expensive to manufacture apparatus.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel combined boat and trailer assembly wherein wheels and wheel support structure are provided in an outboard structural system integrated with a boat, which can be located in a lower trailering position when it is desired to tow the boat to and from launch sites and which are movable to raised positions withdrawing the wheels and support structure to a position above the normal water level when the boat is waterborne, thereby providing a more economical boat-trailer assembly movable both on land and on water, improved handling characteristics during launching of the boat and withdrawal of the boat from the water, reduced expense of manufacture, and reduced weight which permits energy saving fuel economies to be realized during land transport of the boat-trailer assembly.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.